Boxcars711 Overnight Western "All Star Western Theater" - Streets Of Laredo With Tex Ritter (01-05-47)

Boxcars711 Overnight Western "All Star Western Theater" - Streets Of Laredo With Tex Ritter (Aired January 5, 1947)


All Star Western Theater is an enjoyable series filled with the humor of guest stars such as Johnny Mack Brown and Smiley Burnett and in the tried and true format of The Roy Rogers Show. The words honest, sincere and un-assuming come to mind. Done live, All Star Western Theater gives the studio audience a good show, and the result is still a happy ride down memory lane. Riding out of the sunny back lots of Hollywood, All Star Western Theatre delivered Republic Western-style entertainment with chuck wagon sized doses of fine music, broad humor and guest appearances by the best of the West. The music was provided by the Riders of the Purple Sage, fronted by Foy Willing, with the help of Kenny Driver, Al Sloey and Johnny Paul. The group appeared on various shows on radio, including the Andrews Sisters' Eight-to-the-Bar Ranch in '44-'45, and the Roy Rogers Show during the 1946 - 48 period. Western swing was big in those days, and this show has some really fine renditions in that great American music style. Guest stars such as Johnny Mack Brown and Smiley Burnett come on, and do action sketches and real knee-slapping humor skits. When these cowboys rustle up humor, they play it about as broad as the western skies themselves. Laughs this simple are not heard much anymore, unless you have an eight-year old with an old jokebook. But that doesn't mean All Star Western Theater isn't enjoyable. It really is, in the same way that the old western movies are enjoyable. Honest, sincere and un-assuming come to mind.

THIS EPISODE:
January 5, 1947. "Streets Of Laredo With Tex Ritter" - CBS Pacific network, KNX, Los Angeles aircheck. Sponsored by: Weber's Bread. The strong smell of Eau de Cologne leads to a killer in Benson City. Foy Willing and The Riders Of The Purple Sage, Cottonseed Clark (announcer). 1/2 hour.

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Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - The Bob Hope Show "Guests: Jack Benny & Doris Day" (12-06-49)

Guests: Jack Benny & Doris Day (Aired December 6, 1949)


From the age of twelve, Bob Hope worked at a wide variety of odd jobs at a local board walk. When not doing this he would busk, doing dance and comedy patter to make extra money. He entered many dancing and amateur talent contests, and won prizes for his impersonation of Charlie Chaplin. He also boxed briefly and unsuccessfully under the name Packy East, making it once as far as the semi-finals of the Ohio novice championship. Fallen silent film comedian Fatty Arbuckle saw one of his performances and in 1925 got him steady work with Hurley's Jolly Follies. A year later Hope had formed an act called the Dancemedians with George Burns (who would also live to see his own 100th birthday) and the Hilton Sisters, conjoined twins who had a tap dancing routine. Hope and his partner George Byrne had an act as a pair of Siamese twins as well, and both danced and sang while wearing blackface before friends advised Hope that he was funnier as himself.. After five years on the Vaudeville circuit, by his own account Hope was surprised and humbled when he and his partner Grace Louise Troxell failed a 1930 screen test for Pathé at Culver City, California. (Hope had been on the screen in small parts, 1927's The Sidewalks of New York and 1928's Smiles. Hope returned to New York City and subsequently appeared in several Broadway musicals including Roberta, Say When, the 1936 Ziegfeld Follies, and Red, Hot and Blue with Ethel Merman. His performances were generally well-received and critics noted his keen sense of comedic timing. He changed his name from "Leslie" to "Bob", reportedly because people in the US were calling him "Hopelessly", although in the 1920s he sometimes used the name "Lester Hope".

THIS EPISODE:

December 6, 1949. Christmas Seals syndication. Sponsored by: Christmas Seals fund appeal. What happens to the guy who wins the radio quiz show. Bob Hope, Doris Day, Irene Ryan, Four Hits and A Miss, Hy Averback, Les Brown and His Orchestra. 28:00.

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Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - The Secrets Of Scotland Yard "Smoke Clings To The Hair" (1949)

Smoke Clings To The Hair (1949)


The Secrets of Scotland Yard was an independent production of the Towers of London syndicate in England for world wide distribution. Each week, an audience of anxious radio-listeners tuned in to hear these true crime stories of the London Metropolitan Police unfold, as the detectives at the Yard investigated some of England’s most famous criminals. Their trials have become legendary. Stories presented in the series include the theft of the British crown jewels by Colonel Thomas Blood; the story of a man who finds an armless and legless body wrapped in ribbons and lace; or the strange story of two close brothers who love one another enough to contemplate the murder of a brother’s affluent, yet unsightly and ignorant, wife. Murders, forgery, and robberies all get a through review on the program. Each time, Scotland Yard detectives are afoot to solve the crime mystery! The Secrets of Scotland Yard was initially hosted by Clive Brook, probably for the first year or so. To add to the air of authenticity, Brook sometimes discusses matters with Percy Hoskins, a 1950s crime expert and reporter for the London Daily Express. Hoskins knew every nook and cranny in London’s seedier districts and personally reported on many of the major crimes of the day. A student of crime, Hoskins was also one of the founders of the Saints and Sinners Club of London, an educational organization dedicated to true crime investigation methods and results. Brook had his own Scotland Yard experience previously when he played retired naval commander Stevenson in the 1936 film, "Scotland Yard Commands". American audiences will however probably more familiar with Brooks’ portrayal of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes in the 1932 film of the same name. Brook was eventually replaced by an actor portraying the character Superintendent X of Scotland Yard.

THIS EPISODE:

1949 - Program #91. Towers Of London syndication. "Smoke Clings To The Hair". Commercials added locally. A boy who was known to take exceptional care of his crippled mother, is suspected of causing a fire that killed her. An insurance policy leads to an interesting conclusion. Postwar. Clive Brook (host). 27 minutes.

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Boxcars711 Overnight Western "Luke Slaughter Of Tombstone" - Outlaw Kid (05-25-58)

Boxcars711 Overnight Western "Luke Slaughter Of Tombstone" - Outlaw Kid (Aired May 25, 1958)


CBS started the year 1958 off with the introduction on January 1, 1958 of Frontier Gentleman. That series lasted 41 broadcasts. Near the end of the year, the network launched Have Gun, Will Travel on November 11, 1958, which continued for 106 programs. In between, a very short series was offered and discontinued after only 16 broadcasts, Luke Slaughter Of Tombstone. Sam Buffington starred as Luke Slaughter, a Civil War cavalryman who turned to cattle ranching in post war Arizona territory near Fort Huachuca. William N. Robson, known from his work with such series as Escape, Suspense and The CBS Radio Workshop, directed. Sam Buffington enacted the title role on Luke Slaughter of Tombstone, another of CBS's prestigious adult Westerns. The series was produced and directed by William N. Robson, one of radio's greatest dramatic directors and Robert Stanley producer was aired from February 23 through June 15, 1958. Buffington portrayed the hard-boiled cattleman with scripts overseen by Gunsmoke sound effects artist (and sometimes scriptwriter) Tom Hanley. Each program had an authoritative opening statement: "Slaughter's my name, Luke Slaughter. Cattle's my business. It's a tough business, it's a big business. I got a big stake in it. And there's no man west of the Rio Grande big enough to take it away from me." Junius Matthews was heard as Slaughter's sidekick, Wichita. In his first adventure, tough-as-nails westerner Luke Slaughter guarantees he will bring a cattle herd to Tombstone despite the threats of rustlers and a spy among the ranks of his cowboys. Like the other CBS radio westerns, Have Gun, Will Travel or Frontier Gentleman, this one had plenty of action, the productions were well done and well acted. Luke Slaugher was cut short, like a lot of other radio shows, by the steady pressure from TV.

THIS EPISODE:

May 25, 1958. "Outlaw Kid" - CBS network origination, AFRTS rebroadcast. Luke is accused of stealing horses and rustling cattle. He and Wichita hit the trail to Mexico to prove their innocence. Sam Buffington, Lawrence Dobkin, Luis Van Rooten, William N. Robson (director), Wilbur Hatch (music). 25 minutes.

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Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - X Minus One "Chain Of Command" (11-21-56)

Chain Of Command (Aired November 21, 1956)


X MINUS ONE was an NBC science fiction series that was an extension, or revival, of NBC's earlier science fiction series, DIMENSION X. which ran from Apr. 8, 1950 through Sept. 29, 1951. Both are remembered for bringing really first rate science fiction to the air. The first X MINUS ONE shows used scripts from DIMENSION X, but soon created new shows from storied from the pages of Galaxy Magazine. A total of 125 programs were broadcast, some repeats or remakes, until the last show of Jan. 9, 1958. There was a one-program revival attempt in 1973, shown at the end of the log.

THIS EPISODE:

November 21, 1956. NBC network. "Chain Of Command". Sustaining. A funny story about intelligent mice living in a top secret laboratory. John Gibson, John McGovern, Ann Thomas, Alan Bunce, Wendell Holmes, Staats Cotsworth, Stephen Arr (author), George Lefferts (adaptor), Fred Collins (announcer), Daniel Sutter (director), William Welch (producer). 29:18.

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Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Who's On First ? - Abbott & Costello (The Video) 1938

Who's On First (The Video)


Who's on First? is a vaudeville comedy routine made most famous by Abbott and Costello. In Abbott and Costello's version, the premise of the routine is that Abbott is identifying the players on a baseball team to Costello, but their names and nicknames can be interpreted as non-responsive answers to Costello's questions. In this context, the first baseman is named "Who"; thus, the utterance "Who's on first" is ambiguous between the question ("which person is the first baseman?") and the answer ("The name of the first baseman is 'Who'"). In February 1938, Abbott and Costello joined the cast of the The Kate Smith Hour radio program, and the sketch was first performed for a national radio audience that March. The routine may have been further polished before this broadcast by burlesque producer John Grant, who became the team's writer, and Will Glickman, a staff writer on the radio show. Glickman may have added the nicknames of then-contemporary baseball players like Dizzy and Daffy Dean to set up the routine's premise. This version, with extensive wordplay based on the fact that most of a fictional baseball team's players had "strange nicknames" that seemed to be questions, became known as "Who's on First?" By 1944, Abbott and Costello had the routine copyrighted. Abbott and Costello performed "Who's on First?" numerous times in their careers, rarely performing it the same way twice. Once, they did the routine at President Roosevelt's request. The routine was featured in the team's 1940 film debut, One Night in the Tropics. The duo reprised the bit in their 1945 film The Naughty Nineties, and it is that version which is considered their finest recorded rendition. They also performed the routine numerous times on radio and television (notably in The Abbott and Costello Show episode "The Actor's Home"). In 1956 a gold record of "Who's on First?" was placed in the Baseball Hall of Fame museum in Cooperstown, New York. A video (taken from The Naughty Nineties) now plays continuously on screens at the Hall.

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Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - The Blue Beetle "Thoroughbreds Always Come Through" (06-19-40) 2 Parts - Complete

Thoroughbreds Always Come Through (Aired June 19, 1940) 2 Parts - Complete


The exploits of Dan Garrett, a rookie patrolman who, by wearing bullet-proof blue chain mail, transformed himself into the mysterious Blue Beetle, a daring crusader for justice. The Blue Beetle was created by Charles Nicholas. The character made his first appearance in August of 1939 in the comic book Mystery Men #1, published by Fox Features Syndicate. The Blue Beetle radio serial aired from 05-15-40 to 09-13-40 as a CBS 30 minutes, syndicated series. Actor Frank Lovejoy provided the voice of the Blue Beetle for the first thirteen episodes. Later episodes were uncredited. After his father was killed by a gangster's bullet, young Dan Garrett joined the New York Police Department, but soon tired of the slow pace and red tape of police work. With the help of his friend and mentor, pharmacist and drug-store proprietor Dr. Franz, Dan acquired a costume of bullet-proof chain-mail-like cellulose material, and began a second life, fighting crime as The Blue Beetle. His calling card was a small beetle-shaped marker that he left in conspicuous places to alert criminals to his presence, using their fear of his crime fighting reputation as a weapon against them. For this purpose he also used a "Beetle Signal" flashlight. The Blue Beetle's reputation was not his only weapon -- he carried a revolver in a blue holster on his belt, and was sometimes shown wearing a multi-pouched belt after the style set by Batman. Also in the Batman vein, the Blue Beetle had a "BeetleMobile" car and a "BeetleBird" airplane. In at least one radio adventure, he carries something called a "magic ray machine". The ray machine was a sort of super-scientific cutting device.

TODAY'S SHOW: " Thoroughbreds Always Come Through" (06-19-40) 2 Parts Complete.

June 19, 1940. Program #21. Fox Features syndication. "Thoroughbreds Always Come Through" Part one. Commercials added locally. A long-shot named "White Star" wins an important race, then the jockey is arrested! . 14:42.

June 19, 1940. Program #22. Fox Features syndication. "Thoroughbreds Always Come Through" Part two. Commercials added locally. The Blue Beetle visits the track, with a little paint remover. The Beetle gathers evidence with his "portable television set" (actually a camera and transmitter combined!). . 12:57.

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Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Gangbusters "Case Of Bugs Moran" (10-25-47) Part 3 of 3

Case Of Bugs Moran (Aired October 25, 1947) Part 3 of 3


The initial series was on NBC Radio from July 20 - October 12, 1935. It then aired on CBS from January 15, 1936 to June 15, 1940, sponsored by Colgate-Palmolive and Cue magazine. From October 11, 1940 to December 25, 1948, it was heard on the Blue Network, with various sponsors that included Sloan's Liniment, Waterman pens and Tide. Returning to CBS on January 8, 1949, it ran until June 25, 1955, sponsored by Grape-Nuts and Wrigley's chewing gum. The final series was on the Mutual Broadcasting System from October 5, 1955 to November 27, 1957. It was once narrated by Norman Schwarzkopf, Sr., former head of the New Jersey State Police. The radio series was adapted for DC Comics, Big Little Books and a 1942 movie serial. The 1952 Gang Busters TV series was reedited into two feature films, Gang Busters (1954) and Guns Don't Argue (1957).

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Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - The Haunting Hour "The Cat Man" (1945)

The Cat Man (1945)


The shows are classic chills from the old school, with creepy organ, overwrought women and over the top men. Perhaps not the highest of melodrama, but obsessively workmanlike. After all, they might have known they were a skeleton staff toiling relentlessly without a ghost of a chance of fame. Thanks to transcription, these unknowns are still with us. John Dunning, succinctly states in "On the Air, The Encyclopedia of Old Time Radio," "There were no credits, so casts and production crews are unknown."

THIS EPISODE:

1945. Program #35. NBC syndication. "The Cat Man". Commercials added locally. A circus story about a lion tamer and "Satan," a cat who can go mad with rage on cue. The date is approximate. 27:32.

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Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Academy Award Theater "Arise My Love" (06-01-46)

Arise My Love (Aired June 1, 1946)


The list of films and actors on Academy Award Theater is very impressive. Bette Davis begins the series in Jezebel, with Ginger Rogers following in Kitty Foyle, and then Paul Muni in The Life of Louis Pasteur. The Informer had to have Victor Mclaglen, and the Maltese Falcon, Humphrey Bogart, Sidney Greenstreet (this movie was his first major motion picutre role) plus Mary Astor for the hat trick. Suspicion starred Cary Grant with Ann Todd doing the Joan Fontaine role, Ronald Coleman in Lost Horizon, and Joan Fontaine and John Lund were in Portrait of Jenny. How Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Pinocchio were done is something to hear! Some films are less well known, such as Guest in the House, with Kirk Douglas and Anita Louise, It Happened Tomorrow, with Eddie Bracken and Ann Blythe playing Dick Powell and Linda Darnell's roles, and Cheers for Miss Bishop with Olivia de Havilland. Each adaptation is finely produced and directed by Dee Engelbach, with music composed and conducted by Leith Stevens. Frank Wilson wrote the movie adaptations. John Dunning in his book,"On the Air, The Encyclopedia of Old Time Radio,"tells us why such a fine production lasted less than a year: "The House of Squibb, a drug firm, footed a stiff bill: up to $5,000 for the stars and $1,600 a week to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for use of the title. The production had all the class of a Lux or Screen Guild show…But the tariff took its toll, and after 39 weeks the series was scrapped."

THIS EPISODE:

June 1, 1946. CBS network. "Arise My Love". Sponsored by: Squibb. A love story between a pilot and a girl reporter in wartime Europe. Ray Milland. 1/2 hour.

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Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - The Diary Of Fate "Albert Riker Entry" (04-27-48)

Albert Riker Entry (Aired April 27, 1948)


The twist with Diary of Fate was the total absence of pretense. The program jumps right to the 'source' of Man's ultimate destiny--Fate itself--in the form of the Guardian of the Diary of Fate. It is within the Diary of Fate, that every soul's fate is painstakingly chronicled by book and page number--or so we're very persuasively given to understand. Fate itself--in this instance, at least--is the great character actor Herbert Lytton, providing the forboding vocal gravitas we might expect from such an all-powerful cosmic force. Produced from Hollywood, the entire production was voiced by primarily west coast actors. Famous Radio and Television promoter Larry Finley produced and syndicated the program to at least some 94 affiliate stations throughout the U.S., Canada and Jamaica. As indicated in the sidebar to the left, most local or regional broadcasts were either sustained offerings by an independent affiliate, or were sponsored by spot advertisers ranging over a wide variety of offerings or services. The production didn't stint on talent, as hinted above. No less than Ivan Ditmars provided the music direction and in addition to Herb Lytton as 'Fate', the varying casts included Lurene Tuttle, Larry Dobkin, Hal Sawyer, Gloria Blondell, Frank Albertson, Jerry Hausner, Howard McNear, Peter Leeds, Ken Peters, Daws Butler and William Johnstone. All in all a superb well of talent from which to draw each week. While a bit difficult to document, the production remains quite collectable and the perspective of the presentation is also unique for the era--or since for that matter. Diary of Fate is one of Radio's little, oft-overlooked gems that demand pulling out, polishing up for better enjoyment, then dutifully returning them to their preserve for another airing one day in the future.

THIS EPISODE:

April 27, 1948. Program #20. Finley syndication. "Albert Riker". Commercials added locally. Book 84, page 946. A construction foreman has been promised easy riches through gambling. The date is subject to correction. Larry Finley (producer), Herb Lytton, Gloria Blondell, Frank Albertson, Howard McNear, Ray Ehrlenborn (probable sound effects), Bert Horsewell (?), Ivan Ditmars (organ), Hal Sawyer. 28:08.

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Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Mr. & Mrs. North "Murder Mismanaged" (03-18-52)

Murder Mismanaged (Aired March 18, 1952)


Mr. and Mrs. North was a radio mystery series that aired on CBS from 1942 to 1954. Alice Frost and Joseph Curtin had the title roles when the series began in 1942. Publisher Jerry North and his wife Pam lived in Greenwich Village at 24 St. Anne's Flat. They were not professional detectives but simply an ordinary couple who stumbled across a murder or two every week for 12 years. The radio program eventually reached nearly 20 million listeners. The characters originated in 1930s vignettes written by Richard Lockridge for the New York Sun, and he brought them back for short stories in The New Yorker. These stories were collected in Mr. and Mrs. North (1936). Lockridge increased the readership after he teamed with his wife Frances on a novel, The Norths Meet Murder (1940), launching a series of 40 novels, including Death takes a Bow, Death on the Aisle and The Dishonest Murderer. Their long-run series continued for over two decades and came to an end in 1963 with the death of Frances Lockridge. Albert Hackett and Peggy Conklin had the title roles in the Broadway production Mr. and Mrs. North, which ran 163 performances at the Belasco Theatre from January 12, 1941, to May 31, 1941. Alfred De Liagre, Jr. produced and directed the play written by Owen Davis. In this version, the North's apartment was located on Greenwich Place, realized in a scenic design by Jo Mielziner. The Owen Davis play became a 1942 MGM movie starring Gracie Allen and William Post, Jr. with Millard Mitchell repeating his role of Detective Mullins from the Broadway production. Others in the cast were Paul Kelly, Rose Hobart and Keye Luke. In 1946, producer-director Fred Coe brought the Owen Davis play to television (on New York City's WNBT) with John McQuade and Maxine Stewart in the leads and Don Haggerty, Joan Marlowe and Millard Mitchell repeating their Broadway roles. Barbara Britton and Richard Denning starred in the TV adaptation seen on CBS from 1952 to 1953 and on NBC in 1954. Guest appearances on this series included Raymond Burr, Hans Conried, Mara Corday, Carolyn Jones, Katy Jurado, Jimmy Lydon, Julia Meade, William Schallert and Gloria Talbott.

Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Candy Matson, YUkon 2-8209 "The Movie Company" (09-11-50)

The Movie Company (Aired September 11, 1950)


Candy Matson was the private eye star of Candy Matson, YUkon 2-8208, an NBC West Coast show which first aired in March 1949 and was created by Monty Masters. He cast his wife, Natalie Parks, in the title role of this sassy, sexy PI. Her understated love interest, Lt. Ray Mallard, was played by Henry Leff while her assistant and best pal, aptly named Rembrandt Watson, was the voice of Jack Thomas. Every show opened with a ringing telephone and our lady PI answering it with "Candy Matson, YU 2-8209" and then the organ swung into the theme song, "Candy". Each job took Candy from her apartment on Telegraph Hill into some actual location in San Francisco. The writers, overseen by Monty, worked plenty of real Bay Area locations into every plot. Candy was bright, tough, and fearless. She used her pistol infrequently, but was unintimidated by bad guys, regardless of circumstances. Threats, assaults, and even bullets would usually produce a caustic, but clever, response for this blonde sleuth. She and Mallard were frequently working the same case, but she usually solved it first. OTR experts generally agree that this show was the finest of all the female PIs.

THIS EPISODE:

September 11, 1950. NBC network, San Francisco origination. "The Movie Company". Sustaining. Candy finds a real body hanging among the props on a movie set. Natalie Masters, Monte Masters (producer, director). 25 minutes.

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Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - The New Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes "Death In The North Sea" (06-16-47)

Death In The North Sea (Aired June 16, 1947)


Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, who first appeared in publication in 1887. He is the creation of Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. A brilliant London-based detective, Holmes is famous for his intellectual prowess, and is renowned for his skillful use of deductive reasoning (somewhat mistakenly so called — see inductive reasoning) and astute observation to solve difficult cases. He is arguably the most famous fictional detective ever created, and is one of the best known and most universally recognisable literary characters in any genre. Conan Doyle wrote four novels and fifty-six short stories that featured Holmes. All but four stories are narrated by Holmes' friend and biographer, Dr. John H. Watson; two are narrated by Holmes himself, and two others are written in the third person. The first two stories, short novels, appeared in Beeton's Christmas Annual for 1887 and Lippincott's Monthly Magazine in 1890. The character grew tremendously in popularity with the beginning of the first series of short stories in The Strand Magazine in 1891; further series of short stories and two serialised novels appeared almost right up to Conan Doyle's death in 1930. The stories cover a period from around 1878 up to 1903, with a final case in 1914.

THIS EPISODE:

The New Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes. June 16, 1947. ABC network. "Death In The North Sea". Sponsored by: Kreml Hair Tonic, Kreml Shampoo. An innocent man is about to be convicted of murder aboard an ocean liner. Sherlock Holmes uses a scratch on a porthole and a Frenchwoman to defend the man. John Powers and his model Ellen Allardice appear on a Kreml shampoo commercial. The story is based on, "The Problem Of Thor Bridge" by Arthur Conan Doyle. Tom Conway, Nigel Bruce, Joseph Bell (announcer), Tom McKnight (producer), Alex Steinert (composer, conductor), Anthony Boucher (writer), Denis Green (writer), Arthur Conan Doyle (author), Gale Gordon, John Powers, Ellen Allardice. 29:27.

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Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - I Was A Communist For The FBI "The Red Record" (08-20-52)

The Red Record (Aired August 20, 1952)


Throughout most of the 1940's, Matt Cvetic worked as a volunteer undercover agent for the FBI, infiltrating the Communist Party in Pittsburgh. In 1949, his testimony helped to convict several top Party members of conspiracy to overthrow the U.S. government. Cvetic sold his account to "The Saturday Evening Post" and it was serialized under the title "I Posed as a Communist for the FBI". It later became a best-selling book. In 1951, Warner Brothers released a film based on these accounts entitled "I Was A Communist For The FBI", starring with Frank Lovejoy as Cvetic. In 1952, in the midst of the Red scare of the 1950's, the Frederick W. Ziv Company produced the syndicated radio series with the same title as the movie. It was produced without assistance from the FBI, which refused to cooperate. I Was a Communist for the FBI consisted of 78 episodes syndicated by the Frederick W. Ziv Company to more than 600 stations, including KNX in Los Angeles, California, with original episodes running from April 23, 1952 to October 14, 1953. Each episode ended with Dana Andrew's well-remembered words, ""I was a Communist for the FBI. I walk alone". The show had a budget of $12,000 a week, a very high cost to produce a radio show at the time.

THIS EPISODE:

August 20, 1952. Program #18. ZIV Syndication. "The Red Record". Commercials added locally. Cvetic travels to Chicago looking for a "black book," possibly hidden inside a radio! The date is subject to correction. Dana Andrews, Truman Bradley (announcer), Barton Yarborough, Paul Richards, Harry Lang, Herb Vigran, David Rose (music). 27:44.

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Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Gangbusters "Case Of Bugs Moran" (10-18-47) Part 2 of 3

Case Of Bugs Moran (Aired October 18, 1947) Part 2 of 3


The radio series was adapted for DC Comics and Big Little Books. Universal Pictures made a very popular Gang Busters (serial) movie serial in 1942, starring Kent Taylor and Ralph Morgan. The 1952 Gang Busters TV series was reedited into two feature films, Gang Busters (1955, with Myron Healey as Public Enemy No. 4) and Guns Don't Argue (1957, with Healey as John Dillinger). The Gangbusters TV version ended its telecast with a photo of one of the nation's most wanted lawbreakers, resulting in the apprehension of many major criminals. During the fall of 1952 Gangbusters averaged an unheard of 42 rating, garnering virtually all the audience available in its time slot. Nevertheless, this police anthology series left the air in December 1952, making it probably the highest rated program ever to be cancelled in the history of television.

THIS EPISODE:

October 18, 1947. Program #499. ABC network origination, syndicated, WRVR-FM, New York rebroadcast. "The Case Of Bugs Moran". Participating sponsors. The second part of the story of "Bugs." A comeback. WRVR rebroadcast date: June 20, 1974.

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Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - The Damon Runyon Theater "So You Won't Talk" (08-21-49)

So You Won't Talk (Aired August 21, 1949)


The Damon Runyon Theater was a 52 show series that was syndicated across the USA beginning in early 1949. Damon Runyon was a gifted sports writer in New York City as well as being a great journalist and great short story writer. His stories were humorous ones, written in the "dem" and "dose" vernacular of the city's loveable and not so loveable characters of Broadway, the prize ring and the underworld. His most famous collection of short stories, Guys and Dolls, was on Broadway and later made into a movie. Many of his stories were filmed including Sorrowful Jones, A Pocketful of Miracles, Lady for a Day, Blue Plate Special, The Lemon Drop Kid (twice) and Little Miss Marker (four times). In addition to this The Damon Runyon Theater was syndicated for television in the mid 1950s.

THIS EPISODE:

August 21, 1949. Program #34. Mayfair syndication. "So You Won't Talk". Commercials added locally. Grafton Wilton has been murdered, but there was an eyewitness...an unusual eye witness! Damon Runyon (author), John Brown, Richard Sanville (director), Russell Hughes (adaptor), Vern Carstensen (production supervisor). 27:24.

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Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - The Adventures Of Ellery Queen "Man In The Street" (12-04-47)

Man In The Street (Aired December 4, 1947)


On radio, The Adventures of Ellery Queen was heard on all three networks from 1939 to 1948. During the 1970s, syndicated radio fillers, Ellery Queen's Minute Mysteries, began with an announcer saying, "This is Ellery Queen..." and contained a short one-minute case. The radio station encouraged callers to solve the mystery and win a sponsor's prize. Once a winner was found, the solution was broadcast as confirmation. Tuska cited Ellery Queen, Master Detective (1940) and Ellery Queen's Penthouse Mystery (1941) as the best of the Bellamy-Lindsay pairings. "The influence of The Thin Man series was apparent in reverse", Tuska noted about Ellery Queen's Penthouse Mystery. "Ellery and Nikki are unmarried but obviously in love with each other. Probably the biggest mystery... is how Ellery ever gets a book written. Not only is Nikki attractive and perfectly willing to show off her figure", Tuska wrote, "but she also likes to write her own stories on Queen's time, and gets carried away doing her own investigations." In Ellery Queen, Master Detective, "the amorous relationship between Ellery and Nikki Porter was given a dignity, and therefore integrity", Tuska wrote, "that was lacking in the two previous entries in the series", made at Republic Pictures before Bellamy and Lindsay were signed by Columbia.

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Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Alfred Hitchcock Presents "The Sorcerers Apprentice" (TV) 1962

The Sorcerers Apprentice (TV) Aired July, 1962 *Exact Date Unknown


Alfred Hitchcock Presents is an anthology television series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock. The series featured dramas, thrillers and mysteries. By the premiere of the show on October 2, 1955, Hitchcock had been directing films for over three decades. Originally 30 minutes per episode, the series was expanded to 60 minutes in 1962 and retitled The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. Hitchcock himself only directed 17 of the 270 filmed episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents[3] and only one of the hour-long episodes, "I Saw the Whole Thing" with John Forsythe. Audiences, however, preferred the shorter version, and in 1963 the show and title returned to their thirty-minute format for the final two seasons. The last new episode aired on June 26, 1965, but the series continued to be popular in syndication for decades. The first season was released on DVD in 2005, the second season in 2006, the third in October 2007, and the fourth in November, 2009.

THIS EPISODE:

July, 1962. "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" - The Great Sadini finds a young man passed out from hunger on the carnival grounds and takes him inside to his trailer. The boy, Hugo, proves to be simple. His first thought on waking is that he is dead and that Sadini and his wife are the devil and an angel. He's nearly right -- but he has the roles reversed. Sadini's compassion prompts him to take the kid under his wing and teach him about magic.

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Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod - Arch Oboler's Plays "My Chicago" (07-26-45)

My Chicago (Aired July 26, 1945)


Arch Oboler's Plays was a radio drama series written, produced and directed by Arch Oboler. Minus a sponsor, it ran for one year, airing Saturday evenings on NBC from March 25, 1939 to March 23, 1940 and revived five years later on Mutual for a sustaining summer run from April 5, 1945 to October 11, 1945. Leading film actors were heard on this series, including Gloria Blondell, Eddie Cantor, James Cagney, Ronald Colman, Joan Crawford, Greer Garson, Edmund Gwenn, Van Heflin, Katharine Hepburn, Elsa Lanchester, Peter Lorre, Frank Lovejoy, Raymond Massey, Burgess Meredith, Paul Muni, Alla Nazimova, Edmond O'Brien, Geraldine Page, Gale Sondergaard, Franchot Tone and George Zucco.

THIS EPISODE:

July 26, 1945. Mutual network. "My Chicago". Sustaining. A well-written, amusing look over a young Chicago boy's shoulder, as he writes a description of his city to a Chinese pen-pal. Tommy Cook, Cathy Lewis, Bea Benaderet, Arch Oboler, Joseph Gilbert, Truda Marson, Eddie McCambridge, Evelyn Scott. 1/2 hour.

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